Volunteer & Community Engagement Specialist
Full Time • CCSS 8151
Benefits:
- 403(b) Employer match
- 403(b)
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
- Vision insurance
Crisis Center for South Suburbia
About us
The Crisis Center for South Suburbia is a non-profit community organization that provides emergency shelter and other essential services for individuals and families victimized by domestic violence and addresses the societal issues that contribute to domestic violence.
Today, the Crisis Center for South Suburbia operates a 54-bed emergency shelter and has annual impact on the lives of more than 10,000 people. With a staff of more than 83 employees and a budget of over seven million dollars, the Crisis Center continues to grow while offering free services to Chicago’s south suburban communities.
Why Us?
In both service provision and fundraising, we maintain the highest professional and personal ethical standards. We respect the diversity of the individuals we work with and serve. Each person’s contributions are valued as we work together cooperatively with open communication. We continually evaluate the effectiveness of our services, with established channels for feedback and accountability. We believe in teamwork, individual excellence, and accountability.
We embrace a history founded in creating equity – we take our principles seriously by courageously committing to a culture and workplace where all staff feel safe, welcome, visible, respected, supported, and valued.
We offer competitive salaries, health, dental, vision & life insurance, 403B matching, flexible schedules, opportunity for advancement, paid time off, wellness resources, training and development, performance-based bonuses and more.
As an equal opportunity employer, we encourage people of varied races, ethnicities, national origins, tribes, religions, ages, gender identities and expressions, genders, sexual orientations, marital statuses, disabilities, veteran/reserve national guard statuses, socio-economic statuses, thinking and communication styles to work with us.
Across our agency, we are working together to support the life-changing mission of ending domestic violence for individuals and families with the transformational impact of lives without abuse.
About the Role:
The Volunteer & Community Engagement Specialist (VCES) is responsible for developing and overseeing a thriving volunteer program, the community ambassador initiative, and the management and coordination of in-kind donation drives and community drives for the Crisis Center for South Suburbia (CCSS) and Neat Repeats.
This role ensures strategic engagement with volunteers, ambassadors, and the wider community to support the mission of CCSS. The Volunteer & Community Engagement Specialist (VCES) will lead efforts in volunteer recruitment and retention, ambassador program development, and community drives and outreach in support of those efforts. This position is critical in fostering a connected and engaged community to support the mission of CCSS. The VCES will play a key role in expanding the organization’s reach, strengthening relationships and the culture of philanthropy, while building a sustainable network of volunteers, ambassadors, and community advocates. The position reports to the Fundraising and Communications Officer within the Development Department.
PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:
Volunteer Program Oversight:
- Develop and implement an annual volunteer recruitment and retention strategy to meet the ongoing needs of CCSS and Neat Repeats resale stores.
- Work in partnership with all departments to identify volunteer needs and strategize effective recruitment solutions.
- Effectively recruit, screen, place, and track volunteers for both direct and non-direct service roles.
- Manage volunteer inquiries, placement, satisfaction, and retention, ensuring timely responses and structured onboarding.
- Assign Neat Repeats volunteers to site supervisors and ensure site supervisors have job-specific training plans and availability for onboarding.
- Working with the Fundraising & Communications Officer to cultivate relationships and increase awareness with individuals, businesses, community groups/agencies, corporations and other entities to market volunteer and in-kind donation needs of the agency.
- Responsible for obtaining and supervising groups of volunteers that do project or donation sorting work for the agency. This includes but is not limited to Neat Repeats onsite donation sorting and recycling centers, maintenance-related projects for CCSS properties, holiday gift-wrapping, and package sorting.
- Responsible for obtaining special event volunteers to support fundraising activities. This includes creating job descriptions, providing training, and managing and supervising volunteers on the day of the event.
- Oversee volunteer recognition activities, including the coordination of the Annual Volunteer and Staff Appreciation Luncheon and April volunteer appreciation activities with onsite supervisors and staff.
- Train and encourage site supervisors to conduct informal actions that recognize and appreciate volunteers.
- Attend public speaking engagements to represent CCSS/NR when needed at community events and fairs to increase awareness of CCSS program services and promote volunteer opportunities.
- Utilize community and computer-based recruiting websites to effectively advertise our volunteer needs.
- Responsible for a monthly publication of our Volunteer Voice newsletter through Constant contact.
- Collect and publish meaningful articles to keep volunteers in the know.
Community Ambassador Program Management:
- Recruit, train, schedule and support a network of Community Ambassadors to represent CCSS in various outreach capacities.
- Develop training materials and regular communication strategies to keep ambassadors informed and engaged.
- Facilitate connections between ambassadors and CCSS fundraising, advocacy, and outreach efforts.
- Organize periodic ambassador networking and schedule training sessions and appreciation events.
- Track ambassador activities and impact to assess program effectiveness.
Donation Operations:
- Research and cultivate relationships and increase awareness with individual, business, community groups/agencies, corporations and other donors and community agencies for the solicitation of in-kind goods and services.
- Provide attentive customer service and responsiveness to all in-kind and potential donors/donor groups.
- Respond to inquiries, phone calls, and e-mail in a timely and responsive manner.
- Create, manage, and document all in-kind donations and donor information in order to aid in building relationships and provide outreach to potential donors.
- Ensure that each in-kind donation form is fully completed and, in the case where gaps in contact info or other info occur, will provide outreach to ensure that all pertinent info is gathered and recorded on the donation form.
- Load, unload & general labor associated with accepting & sorting community donations into appropriate categories and areas per the manager’s direction.
- Organize community and in-kind donation drives according to type and end use - Differentiate usable donations from trash; maintaining CCSS and Neat Repeats high standards of saleable and useable donations/ merchandise
- Work with Development team members to coordinate and execute the holiday drive and Adopt-a-Family program.
Volunteer Workforce/Logistics Coordination:
- Assesses the need for ongoing volunteer help with donations and works onsite supervisors and staff to ensure coverage of duties.
- Develops a monthly calendar of volunteers assigned to facilities and donation management, including groups.
- Handle all inquiries about in-kind donations requiring pick-ups or drop offs and coordinate with Operations.
- As needed schedule pick-ups using available volunteer support and working within the parameters of the Operations Maintenance calendar.
- Responsible for being the single point of contact for all volunteers, community service, and volunteer groups working with in kind donations.
- Provide all volunteers working in logistics with training commensurate to the work they perform.
- Maintain documentation of time sheets and sign in sheets to aggregate into statistics and reports that are necessary to monthly reporting requirements. Use CRM system to track and report.
Administrative & Organizational Responsibilities:
- Maintain up-to-date records of all volunteer requests, community ambassador activities, and involvement.
- Maintain all volunteer paper and electronic files according to current procedures.
- Provide all data and files necessary for PQI program review.
- Work collaboratively with the Development team, strategically marketing fundraising and engagement opportunities.
- Ensure compliance with policies, procedures, and requirements related to community engagement, volunteer assignments and in-kind donations.
- Represent CCSS at relevant meetings, conferences, and networking opportunities.
- Supervise volunteers and community ambassadors according to procedures.
- Assist with other Development Department initiatives as needed.
- Attend monthly All Staff and NR Managers Meetings
- Maintain Amazon Wish list
Compensation: $60,000.00 - $67,000.00 per year
We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
The Crisis Center for South Suburbia has been providing hope and services to victims of domestic violence for over 40 years through housing, counseling, advocacy, outreach and prevention programs. We are a non-profit community organization that provides emergency shelter and other essential services for individuals and families victimized by domestic violence and addresses the societal issues that contribute to domestic violence. With a staff of more than 50 employees and a budget of over four million dollars, the Crisis Center continues to grow while offering free services to Chicago’s south suburban communities.
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